Roses
by jquackers
Summary: Every day, another rose. Every rose, a different meaning. With every meaning, comes another memory.. Each memory filled with love.


**A/N:** Half of the inspiration that made me write this was, ironically (in my point of view), from a nightmare I had a few nights back. The very beginning and ending were a part of it, but I changed the ending a bit so the scene would fit. The other half was from a white rose I saw growing in my front yard.

Also, I just wanted to say that I suck at summaries. And I'm a very corny and mushy person at times. :P

I put the rating to T, just in case. Not sure if I have to, but oh well. :P

**Disclaimer: **As I am sitting here writing and shivering due to the cold, you can guess that I'm not the filthy rich owner of Mai HiME. -.-

* * *

**Prologue**

She stood there with her arms limp, rose in her right hand, wearing a formal black suit. Her gaze never left the picture frame resting on the hard, cold stone in front of her. The photo was of a young woman, only in her early twenties, with crimson eyes and chestnut colored hair. She was smiling.

The young woman with raven colored hair gritted her teeth, fingering a simple diamond ring with her left hand. Remorseful emerald eyes peered into a pair of crimson eyes. She knelt down, placing the single rose next to the frame, letting her hand linger near it.

"Shizuru.." she whispered as her fingers grazed the cheek of the woman in the photo, ignoring the groups of mourning people who were stopping to glance back at where she was kneeling.

"Did you know that different colored roses mean different things? There are actually a few of meanings for each rose. I brought you a black rose today. It may not be jet black, but that doesn't matter. These.." she paused, ignoring her blurring vision, "They mean death, sadness; things like that. But, they can also mean new beginnings or a big change in the future. I guess it's appropriate, right? I mean.. It is a new beginning; living without you.."

With that statement said, Natsuki sobbed relentlessly, unable to hold back her grieve anymore. She collapsed, knees hitting the cement walkway. Her chin was resting on her chest with her fists grasping the cloth of her pants.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Shizuru.." she choked out, "Why?.. It's always someone I love, someone I care about. And it's always because of ME! Why, God?! Why me.. Why her.. Why US?!" She screamed into the darkening sky, tears rolling down her face.

"Forgive me," she whispered as she sat alone, unmoving in front of the gravestone..

* * *

**_Three days ago_**

A brunette was seen walking on the sidewalk, smiling happily as she neared the park. She was to meet her beloved there, told that there was a long day ahead of them. She had dressed comfortably, but warmly, as the first signs of winter were seen.

She looked around for the green-eyed girl, her pace quickening when she saw her loitering by a tree, dressed similarly to how she herself was. As she approached the younger girl, said girl turned around to face her. When she laid her eyes on the crimson-eyed beauty, she grinned widely.

"Hey!" she called out.

"Good afternoon, Nat-su-ki-chan!"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that, Shizuru?" Natsuki grunted.

"Ara, but Natsuki is just too cute, so I can't resist," Shizuru smiled innocently, making the other girl sigh.

"Anyway, follow me," she said as she took the other's hand and headed away from the street. After a few minutes of walking, they came upon a cleared area, one side surrounded by trees while a river ran on the other. A few feet away from the river lay a blanket topped with mouthwatering food.

"Ara, since when was this river here?"

"Since I magically moved it here," she grinned. Letting go of Shizuru's hand, she walked over to the blanket and sat down on it. She patted the empty space next to her, "Are you going to just stand there all day, or what?"

"Hai, hai, I'm coming. Where did you get all this food anyway? Don't tell me you asked Tokiha-san to make this all." Shizuru frowned, thinking of all the trouble the redhead had to go through. She sat down next to her girlfriend, viridian eyes meeting her own.

".. You really have no confidence in me, huh? I made all this myself," Natsuki stated proudly.

"Y-you.. made this with absolutely no help at all? No one supervising you?" the girl next to her asked, terrified of the piece of information just given to her. She leaned forward and poked one of the sandwiches contained in a small, zip lock bag. A hand smacked her own, causing Shizuru to pull it back out of instinct.

"Stop poking it. It's not poisonous. Yes, I did. No, there wasn't anyone else with me," she sighed, "Why don't you just try it? It's not going to do any good just laying there uneaten, right?" With that said, Natsuki grabbed two sandwiches, handing one to Shizuru while opening the zip lock bag of the other. She took a bite, the older woman looking expectantly at her all the while. A few seconds passed before Natsuki began choking, clutching her throat.

"Natsuki!" Shizuru panicked. She began softly patting the other girl's back, while her other hand gripped her arm. Then, she heard giggles, which quickly turned into laughter.

"Ikezu.." Shizuru pouted, realizing she had been tricked.

"I'm sorry," Natsuki said, wiping tears from her eyes, "Consider it payback for all the times you teased me."

"Fine, fine. But you really had me scared there."

"I'm sorry. I'm fine now, right? So you can go ahead and eat."

She paused, but then decided to trust Natsuki. She picked her sandwich up again and opened the zip lock bag. Taking a bite out of it, her eyes widened.

"Are you sure you made this? This tastes really good."

"Yes, I'm sure. Unless I dreamed it all and these suddenly appeared when I woke up," Natsuki joked.

After they finished eating and cleaning up, Natsuki led Shizuru to her bike, handing her the purple helmet she brought whenever she rode with her. Shizuru got on the bike, but before she could put the helmet on, Natsuki took out a bandana.

"Wait. I'm going to use this to cover your eyes, okay?"

"Okay, but where are we going?" the brunette asked her companion as she covered her eyes with the cloth.

"You'll find out soon enough. Until then, just wait," she replied as she gently set the helmet on the girl's head. After putting her own on, she hopped on the bike, soon feeling two arms wrap around her waist.

The biker brought the engine to life and sped down the street. When it stopped and the engine was turned off, she released her tight hold on Natsuki.

"Where are we?" Shizuru questioned, being careful getting off the bike with the help of the other girl.

"You'll see soon enough. Come on!" she excitedly replied. After a few moments of walking in a comfortable silence, Natsuki stated that they had arrived. She moved to stand in front of the taller girl, carefully taking off the bandana.

Eyelids fluttered, crimson orbs adjusting to the light. After a few moments, Shizuru realized that they were standing in the Fuuka Gakuen garden, the very place they had met. The sakura trees were dying, the flowers of it slowly falling off, then being blown away by the gentle wind.

She turned back to the other girl, who was fumbling with something in her jacket pocket. She looked at Shizuru, grinning with her eyes sparkling. She stepped to the side a bit so that the two were directly facing each other. Then, she slowly bent down on one knee, and brought out a black velvet box with her right hand.

"Nat..suki?.."

"Shizuru, will you do the honor of taking me as your beloved wife?" she asked ask she opened the small box, revealing a simple diamond ring. Shizuru looked into the kneeling woman's eyes, searching for any hesitation or regret. She found nothing but a green pool of shining love.

"Yes.. Yes, Natsuki, I will." She leapt forward, taking the woman in her arms and holding her tightly while she couldn't, and didn't want to, stop smiling. "I love you, Natsuki."

"I love you, too, Shizuru," the younger woman replied as she took the other's hand. She slid the ring onto her finger, smiling all the while. She brought her chin up to look at Shizuru. As soon as she did, she felt a pair of soft, warm lips press up against her own.

As they broke away, she looked into the crimson eyes in front of her and smiled. Shizuru suddenly shivered, so Natsuki stood up, bringing the other girl with her.

"Let's go home, okay? I don't want you catching a cold, especially since we have a wedding to plan," she grinned, causing Shizuru to chuckle. She wound her arm around Natsuki's and the two walked towards the bike, which was parked across the street.

"Oh, wait! Stay here, I forgot to get something in the bike," Natsuki said as they reached the sidewalk. She ran across the street to her bike, rummaging for something in the back compartment. As she closed it shut, holding the item behind her back, she looked both ways and then crossed the street. Just as she was halfway across, she heard a shout filled with desperation. Her face turned towards the side of the street, eyes widening.

A car was dangerously swerving towards her in an alarming speed. She looked towards Shizuru, but only saw a dash of light brown hair as she felt herself being pushed back, away from the direction in which the car was coming. Her eyes widened, seeing her own fiancé being thrown across the top of the car. She dashed forward before she could fall on the concrete pavement, dropping the white rose she had in hand.

"Shizuru!" she panicked. Crimson eyes slowly opened, meeting emerald.

"Nat..su..ki," she whispered, "I.. love you.. Nat..suki.." Tears flowed down both women's cheeks.

"No.. no! Don't leave me, Shizuru! Please.. don't die.. you can't.." Natsuki sobbed.

"I'm.. sorry.. Please.."

"I love you, Shizuru.. I love you, so much," she desperately choked out.

Smiling, the last of her strength slipped away from her, her eyes closing for the very last time.

Sobs filled the air as the sound of sirens neared the scene, a scream breaking through.

"SHIZURU!!"

* * *

**A/N: **The flashback was pretty hard to write, so tell me how I did on that. :D

Er, anyway.. I just started dragon boat yesterday (Anyone ever heard of that?), and GOD! Jeez, one and a half hours of just running, stretching out, and doing a bunch of exercises (different push-ups, sit-ups, ect.) was extremely gruesome. I think I already lost five pounds. (Gosh, I wish) For some reason, all that exercising actually prompted me to write again.

I don't know if I'll be updating soon, since yesterday infected me with a slight cough. Bleh.

Ah, I'll stop talking now.. Heh.


End file.
